Every Beat Counts
by wildkidlexie
Summary: What if Harry's deepest desire just came true?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

They told him not to walk down Knockturn Alley, but Harry simply couldn't resist the temptation this time. Besides, he was already of age. He could use magic outside of school. What could possibly happen to him in the middle of the day anyway?

Harry couldn't help but notice the eerie feeling though, just as he felt the first time he walked into the place. It was hard to forget, he was what then? Twelve? Good thing Hagrid was there. This time, he knew what to expect.

Walking down the dark alleyway, Harry managed to make it to the other side. Apparently, Hagrid was right. It was a dodgy place. But Harry has heard something good about Knockturn Alley. He was going to check it out for himself. Besides, there's no harm in scouting the place as long as you were careful.

"Hey Mister, over here," a squeaky voice called. Harry turned and saw a much younger boy looking at him. "Come over here and let me show you something."

Harry walked up to the young boy. The boy's clothes were ratty, but he did not seem to mind. He swept his hand across some amulets. "Depends on how much you buy it," started the boy, "but these amulets can surely tell what your deepest desires are."

"Deepest desires?" repeated Harry.

"Deepest desires," confirmed the boy. "Some people do not believe it, others do. Those who do are surely wise. They will find themselves happier than they ever will be." The boy looked at Harry straight in the eye. "I can tell what you want right now, to know someone you have lost." Harry felt his mouth dry. "The amulet can see it as well. Why don't you buy one?"

Harry stared. Was this the amulet George spoke about? After all, he came to this place to see if it was for real. Should he take it though? If Harry learned anything, he learned that wanting something so bad could also mess up things that are good.

"You know you want it," coaxed the boy.

Harry dug into his pocket. "I'll take one," he said. The boy smiled and handed Harry an amulet. Harry paid for it and quickly fled from Knockturn Alley. He went straight home, holding it tightly in his hand.

As soon as he got home, Harry plopped down on his armchair. "Deepest desire?" he whispered to himself as he raised the amulet at eyelevel and looked at it. Finally, he smirked. "Child's toy, that's what it is. Knowing George…" his voice drifted off. He couldn't believe he got overly excited over something as such.

Harry placed the amulet on the coffee table in front of him. _If that amulet know what I really wish for…I'd wake up to see it all happen before my eyes. _And with that, he dozed off.

"Harry?" Harry felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and blinked. He could feel his hands shaking. His lower lip was also quivering. "Harry, all you all right?" His heart was racing. Harry felt that he had lost control over his body right at that moment. "Harry?"

Harry Potter couldn't believe it. His wish…the amulet…it couldn't be true…could it?

**A/N: 10 Reviews and I continue this. Tell me if it's worth continuing. Thank you. I'm writing this simultaneously with my other story **_**No Secrets.**_


	2. Tears and Rain

**A/N: Please tell me what you think, but don't message me with complaints saying that my previous works were better. Firstly, my previous works might have been better because it was at the excitement of finishing the last book. Secondly, I was still in first year college and wasn't doing Thesis so I wasn't as preoccupied as I am today. My mind was purely devoted to writing stories. **

**If you don't like the story, just please say so. Please don't FLAME saying that **_**But They Were Happy **_**and **_**If He Knew**_** were "better" and all. **

**Thank you for understanding. **

**Chapter 1: Tears and Rain**

"Haven't I taught you that it's impolite to stare?" James Potter, looking quite dashing, asked. He was rather jovial. Harry couldn't find a word to say. Although he badly wanted to look away from what badly seems to be his father, he simply couldn't. James shook his head. "You never change, do you, Harry?"

Still confused, and rather suspicious, Harry stared on. It wasn't until who seemed to be Lily Potter walked in that Harry took his eyes off from James and laid them on Lily.

"You've been sleeping for a while now, Harry," said Lily, softly smiling at her son. "Don't you think it's time to get up? I know you've just graduated from Hogwarts and you'd like time alone to yourself, but this is a bit extensive even for you," she pointed out.

Finally, Harry found his voice, though it sounded cracked the way he spoke. "Just graduated?" he asked. He was still at a lost, trying to figure if this was the amulet's work or simply a dream.

James plopped himself down on the couch in front of the armchair Harry had been sleeping on. "You ought to be finding a job by now, Harry," his father said, now in a bit more of a serious tone. "Assuming that you and Ginny would end up marrying each other in-"

"Me and Ginny?" Harry suddenly blurted out. He had almost forgotten about the rest of the world the moment he saw his parents. Of course…the rest of the world would still be going on despite what was happening to him. Could this be real? Harry, by now skeptical of what was real or not, still couldn't believe it.

Lily walked over to Harry. "Don't pressure him, James," she said as she placed her hand on Harry's head. "But Harry, dear, you didn't think you'd go off running with Ginny in circled without intention of actually settling down one day, did you?" she asked. Her feminist side must have been kicking in at the moment.

"Er, no?" Not that Harry did not intend to marry Ginny because he loved Ginny more than anyone else, although this was getting a bit too awkward for him. "I plan to marry her…one day," he finally said with conviction. After all, he really did think about it once or twice. "But I'm just seventeen and-"

James stood up and spoke before Harry could finish what he was about to say. "That's settled then," James said. "Off you go. Find a job."

Harry looked stunned. "Now?" he asked.

Lily ran her fingers through her son's hair. "Well, not now as in right now, but you have to do it soon. You and Ron have been dillydallying half the summer. Molly isn't too happy about it, neither am I." Harry could sense the tone of disappointment in her mother's voice. "I'm going to make some dinner."

Harry quickly jumped up from the armchair, startling his mother who was still playing with Harry's hair. "Let me help," Harry said.

James eyed him. "What's with you?" he asked.

Harry raised any eyebrow. "What do you mean-er-Dad?" He found it quite hard to adjust. After all, he hadn't called anyone _Dad _in his whole life and starting at seventeen wasn't going to make anything easy for Harry, especially at this most awkward setting.

James waved his hand. He gave Harry one last look before disappearing into another room. Harry looked around. He hadn't noticed until now that he wasn't at his own house. He was at a different less familiar, but to a certain degree quite familiar place. He couldn't understand what he was feeling right then and there. It was only weeks after the war had ended and Harry reckoned that his mind would be playing tricks on him, but this looked all too real to be a trick. After all _magic_ can be a bit surprising sometimes.

"Don't mind your father," said Lily gently. "You know he only wants the best for you." She and Harry walked to the kitchen. Harry looked around. His mother was indeed neat and tidy. The kitchen was a bit different from the Weasley's, maybe a bit cleaner, that's all. "You know that he only wants the best for you, right?"

Harry nodded, though he still didn't understand what was going on. "Right, Mom," he replied. _Mom_, it was a word he had been wanting to use for so long. It felt queer though, but he was starting to get used to the fact that everything was different from the life he knew.

"THAT'S MINE!" bellowed a high-pitched voice that alarmed Harry into pulling out his wand. Something about the war gave him this kind of alertness. To a certain degree, it might be called paranoia. Two rowdy teenagers came into the room, a boy and a girl. They appeared to be of schoolchildren age. Harry figured that they were either in their second or third year. "MOM!"

_Mom?_ It was surprising enough to find his parents in front of him. What more possible siblings? Come to think of it, if his parents didn't die, would he really have had siblings?

The redhead girl looked up angrily. "Mom, Danny's been raiding my stuff again!" she complained loudly, pointing to her naughty looking brother who smiled slyly at their mother.

Lily sighed. "Danny, give Sarah back whatever you took from her." She sounded like a broken record, as if this has been happening too often to be taken as a serious matter. Harry thought of Ron and Fred and George and probably Ginny too. They were almost the same.

"Why can't you go through Harry's things instead?" asked Sarah, looking quite annoyed.

Danny looked as equally annoyed as his sister. "Harry doesn't make my things his property the way you do," he shot back. Danny looked up at Harry. "Tell her, Harry! Tell her how to distinguish my things from hers. Apparently, she doesn't know how to draw lines."

"What's with all the yelling in here?" James appeared at the arc of the kitchen. He was looking quite stern. "One son sleeping off his summer. Another who can't share, and a daughter who pries at things not hers. What did I ever do to deserve this?" Although the two teenagers looked remorseful after hearing what their father just said, Harry knew there was a tone of amusement somewhere in there.

Danny stopped. "Sorry, Dad," he said.

"Sorry," Sarah muttered after him.

With that, the pair left the kitchen and footsteps clamoring up to the second floor was heard. There was a giggle and a loud bang of the door. The two seemed to befriend each other quickly.

James looked at Harry. "Why are you chopping the vegetables the Muggle way, Harry?" he asked, scratching his head. By the looks of it, James was not very used to Harry acting odd, or so it seems. "Is there anything you want to tell me, son?"

Harry didn't know what was the matter, really, but he could tell that this was not his usual attitude, whatever it is he was doing differently. He simply looked at his father and shook his head.

James' eyes softened. "Well, it's good to see you helping your mother," he finally said. "Can I talk to you after cooking dinner?" he asked.

"Of course, Dad," replied Harry, as soon as he was asked. He felt more and more comfortable now.

James nodded and went to the dining area. Harry could hear him jinxing the plates and the forks and the spoons to its places on the table. Harry smiled. Even if this was a dream, and he would find himself awake sooner or later, it was worth it.

"Harry," said Lily softly. Harry looked at his mother. She was indeed beautiful, "is there something bothering you? You really aren't yourself since you woke up. Your father's quite right. You know, you can tell us anything if you have to. We won't judge."

Harry gave his mother an assuring smile. "Nothing's bothering me, honestly," he said, although every bit of him was screaming that indeed a lot was already bothering him and making him feel different emotions all at the same time. This was not the time to question anything though. Everything was perfect.

"Is dinner ready yet?" Danny's voice called from the dining room.

Lily smiled. "Harry, you go on ahead. I'll bring all the food out in a while," she said. Harry hesitated, but the look on his mother's eyes assured her that it was all right.

Harry walked to the next room where the dining room was. Everything was cozy, just the way, as he had imagined it.

"Harry," James said, looking Harry's way. "I told you that I'd speak to you after dinner, but I wonder if it's all right to have that talk now." Harry nodded. James smiled and placed his arm around Harry. "Come on then, son. Let's go outside."

There was no way that Harry would trade this moment for anything, to have his family around him, even the family he never knew he could have had: Danny and Sarah. It was something he wouldn't have even imagined in the first place.

"…and that. Harry, are you even listening?" James had been speaking all along and Harry's mind was somewhere else. "Harry, is there anything you need to tell me? You've been acting really strange."

Harry shook his head. Even if he did tell his father, he thought that James wouldn't believe it anyway. James sighed. "Anyway, you get me now, don't you? Why I don't want you to depend on the money I will leave for you. I know that you can manage without a job with all your grandfather has left for you, but…" his voice trailed off. "Harry?"

"I'll start finding a job tomorrow, Dad," Harry said confidently. Someone was actually concerned about jobs, a trivial thing in the world he knew. All people wanted then were to survive. "I promise I won't depend on money we have now, Dad. I'll check on Ron tomorrow. We could do it together if he's okay with the idea." Maybe having a friend around would reassure his father that he meant business.

James beam. "That's my boy!" He gave his son a slap at the back. "Between you and me though, don't go telling your mother this, I know just what you feel." James looked at the dark sky above them. "Hogwarts was a safe place from the real world. Harry, the magic was not the spells behind those walls, but the world it created for us. I bet you felt that way to." He paused. 'The friends that you meet, the fun that you have. The challenges you face everyday. That was the magic of it all. But once you graduate, it feels as if all magic fades from there." If Harry wasn't wrong, there was a slight one of sadness there.

Silence came between them. Harry took seconds before letting what his father said sink into his thought. After all, James was right. The magic in everything was meeting Ron and Hermione, falling in love with his best mate's little sister, getting through exams without turning pale all over. Yes, if it weren't for the dangers he faced every year…

"But we wake up from that, Harry," James' voice suddenly said again. "We wake up and find ourselves in the real world. We face more and more responsibilities each day. Before you know it, you would be holding your first child and loving some little life like you've never loved before." James smiled and turned to his son. "Just like what I felt the first time I held you in my arms," he said gently. "It was the first time I felt magic again since graduating from Hogwarts."

Harry smiled. "Must have been one of the greatest feelings," he whispered.

James nodded. "Yes, and I'm sure one day you'll experience the same thing." James looked at Harry. "Meanwhile, you better start a good foundation for yourself. You can't expect you and Ginny to go off to marry without you being in a stabilized financial state!"

Harry's ears went pink. "Dad!"

James chuckled. "There's no point in denying it," he told Harry. He shifted his weight to the other side of his leg. "I've never seen you look at another girl the way you look at Ginny. There is something in that look that tells me you're not going to give her up any time soon."

Harry said nothing, but he knew what his father said was true.

"Just remember, Harry," said James, "love can make you do anything. For better or for worse." He placed his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Right now, let it be the motivation for you to start finding a job now that you're out of Hogwarts. Your mother and I wouldn't want you to be under our roof forever." James smirked. "You wouldn't want to be grounded by us when you're twenty-three, I'm sure."

Harry laughed. Deep inside, he wouldn't mind being grounded at twenty-three by his parents, as long as he had them with him. He never had this kind of feeling, this kind of love within him. He had never felt such minor issues in life such as jobs and all that be worth discussing. After all, all he could remember was a madman running after him half his life. He never had a chance to cherish such moments. He would love it if every moment of it lasted forever…if only it could.

Rain started to pour unexpectedly. James headed for the house. "Harry!" he called. "Hurry and let's dry ourselves and have our dinner. After all, it's your cooking!"

"Just a minute, Dad," countered Harry. He was thanking the rain now. At least his father couldn't tell if it were raindrops on his face, or if it were tears.

**A/N: Tell me what you think! Please review! **

**NEXT CHAPTER: No Memory **


End file.
